Research
Social Security Reduces Inequality in Retirement Wealth
Social Security benefits are progressive and reduce the unequal distribution of retirement wealth generated by a broken employer-based retirement system.
ReLab's study of retirement wealth inequality between 1992 and 2010 finds that the retirement system is failing everyone, with those at the bottom suffering the most. This article has been accepted for publication in a revised form in the journal of Pension Economics and Finance. Our corresponding policy note, "Extreme Inequality is Persistent, Even Among Those With Similar Earnings," discusses policies to address the inequalities baked into our system.
Inadequate retirement accounts will cause 8.5 million middle-class older workers and their spouses to be downwardly mobile, falling into poverty or near poverty in their old age.
The increase in alternative work arrangements (temp agency workers, gig work, etc.) among older workers is due to low wages stemming from older workers' decreased bargaining power.
The Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) can cause wage declines for workers who do not receive the tax credit.
Workers in low-wage households are more likely to experience economic shocks and to withdraw from their retirement accounts, exacerbating pre-existing inequalities in the retirement savings system.
This study evaluates a Social Security "Catch-Up" contribution program, a proposal which would help mid-career workers narrow the gap between what they need in retirement and their projected retirement wealth.
This study identifies what is driving the loss of bargaining power suppressing older workers' wages.
The rates of elder poverty among widows and single women are higher than among couples and men.
About SCEPA
SCEPA works to focus the public economics debate on the role government can and should play in the real productive economy - that of business, management, and labor - to raise living standards, create economic security, and attain full employment.
